Archive for January, 2018

Whether you are studying art on your own or you are taking a class at school, mid-century modern art is a style you are sure to enjoy learning more about. You can sometimes find pieces at estate liquidators if you want to own a piece of this art for yourself. There are several artists and specific pieces that are iconic and what people want to learn about first as these represent the best aspects of this period in art history.

Popular Chairs in Mid-Century Modern Art

The Tulip Chair and Papa Bear Chair are two of the most popular chairs of the time period. In fact, the Papa Bear is still common today and it was initially created by Hans Wegner. Both chairs have a retro design, but the Papa Bear almost perfectly combines retro and contemporary design. You can usually find a coordinating ottoman with this chair, giving it a recliner feel and level of comfort. Chairs in this style are still pretty common today in a diverse array of fabrics and colors. The Tulip is a chair traditionally constructed of plastic and like its name suggests, it looks like a tulip flower. You can find it in numerous patterns and colors.

Hans Wegner Papa Bear Chair and Ottoman.

Hans Wegner and His Artistic Talents

Hans Wegner is well-known for his furniture. He is a pioneer in this type of art, and when you learn more about him, you will be able to quickly recognize his styles and designs. Some of his most popular chairs include:

-Valet Chair

-Swivel Chair

-Flag Halyard Chair

-Ox Chair

-Wishbone Chair

-Shell Chair

-Sawbuck Chair

Two Hans Wegner Mobelfabrik Oak Wishbone Chairs

Exploring the Famous Art of Louis Kahn

Louis Kahn used his artistic talents to inspire his architecture. He was an architect who spent most of his career designing homes that for the time period were quite modern. When you see homes that he designed, they are pretty easy to recognize due to his unique style. One of his most famous properties is the Jesse Oser House in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. He designed this in 1940, but when you look at it, many of the elements look like the modern homes that you see built today. Elements like lots of windows and clean lines are major design factors in this home. This shows that Kahn was certainly ahead of the time period with his designs and creations.

You can see that mid-century modern art gave birth to a number of inspiring artists and famous pieces. Now that you know more about this style, you can start exploring the artists and pieces that you enjoy the most. If you are looking to own art from this period, consider visiting estate liquidators that might acquire art from this period.

One artist that many people are looking for at art auction houses is Andy Warhol. He is one of the most iconic artists of his time and there is no denying that the work that he has produced is about as unique as it can be. He utilizes an array of colors and styles to make sure that his art is eye-catching and perfect for those who want art that makes a major statement, especially about various popular aspects of society, such as celebrities.

Andy Warhol“Fright Wig Red”Silkscreen

Mickey Mouse

No matter your knowledge of art or Andy Warhol, you know who Mickey Mouse is and Warhol created art depicting the iconic animated character. His Mickey Mouse piece came out in 1981. This piece was part of his Myths series and the art is actually a portrait that is silk-screened. Diamond dust inlays are a part of the piece, giving them a wavering and soft light that you just do not find with other pieces of art. There were ten fictional characters that were part of this series, but Mickey Mouse is undoubtedly the most popular of all of them.

Big Electric Chair

In 1967, Warhol created this piece that catches your eye with a sharp contrast of purple and green. This piece of art was done thinking about New York State electric chair executions. The photo shows an old electric chair and it is essentially a metaphor on death. This piece was part of a series and the most popular one in it. Warhol created this piece to further the discussion concerning using the death penalty during the 1960s decade.

Flowers Series

Andy Warhol did much of his work in the form of a series. This means that each series had multiple works. In 1964, he was quite busy and this is when he was working on his Flowers Series. These paintings all have a monumental scale and there are seven of them in the series. This series really was quite different than the other work that the artist was focusing on at the time. He spent a lot of time looking at subjects, such as death and celebrities, so seeing him putting more of a focus on nature and abstract art was interesting.

You can see that Andy Warhol is certainly an iconic artist and his work is one-of-a-kind. When you want to think about collecting his art, make sure that you learn more about the most popular pieces first because this makes it easier to understand his perspective. Once you have some solid knowledge, it is time to head to art auction houses to look for some pieces that are his or similar for your collection.

If you have ever attended California auctions, you have surely noticed a lot of collectible penny coins. There are a number of these that have considerable value and are popular among those who are familiar with coin collecting. Knowing more about some of the most popular penny coins will give you a place to start while you learn more about collecting this type of coin.

1856 Flying Eagle Coin

If you are into this coin, you will have to work hard to secure one since only 2,000 were made, making it difficult to find this penny coin. If you are lucky enough to come across this coin and the condition is excellent, you may fetch yourself as much as $85,000 for a single coin. While there are a number of situations in which people pay more, the average selling price for this coin was around $7,000 in 2015.

1943 Copper Penny

Someone sold one of these coins in 2010 and they earned a whopping $1.7 million for it. During this year, the coins were supposed to be composed of steel, but some slipped through being minted of a copper-alloy. This mistake could earn you a large sum of cash today if you are lucky enough to come upon one.

1944 Steel Penny

Coin experts say that this penny was minted by mistake and this mistake could earn you a major profit today. In fact, some of these are selling for as much as $100,000 when the coin is in excellent condition. The error that was made when this coin was produced was in the material. At this time, the pennies should have been made of copper, but a hopper error resulted in some pennies being made of steel, which was the wrong material.

1969-S Double Die Obverse

If you take a penny from your change wallet or jar, you can see that each side is different. You have a heads side and a tails side. This is what was supposed to be printed on the pennies that were minted during this time; however, an error resulted in some 1969 pennies having either heads or tails on both sides of the coin. Some of these coins have sold for as much as $28,200. However, in order for your penny to be one that gets that type of sale price, it has to have the “S,” and this can be seen with a magnifying glass.

You now have more information about collectible penny coins and some of the most popular ones that are sometimes found at California auctions. You can use this information as a springboard for learning more about coin collecting, especially some of the most popular pennies that people collect.

When it comes to art auctioneers, they give you a chance to find an array of cool pieces of art from artists all over the world. One of the artists you might find work from includes Percy Gray. This artist has a very unique style and once you are familiar with his work, it is not hard to easily spot other pieces that he has created. Knowing more about some of his best work makes it easier for collectors to choose the ones that will best fit into their collection.

California Oak

Percy Gray “Path Under an Oak Tree, 1912”

This is a painting where the primary focus is on a large oak tree in California. It was done using watercolors, so it has a very real feel to it. In fact, if you look at it from a distance, you might accidentally mistake it for an actual photograph of a tree. It uses mostly a variety of different greens to accomplish the very natural look of the scenery. There are some splashes of bright colors to help draw your eye to the piece before you get to notice what the actual focal point of it is. While there are tons of paintings that have a large tree as the focus, this is one that has an almost eerie feel to it, making it more unique than the others.

California Eucalyptus

Percy Gray “Eucalyptus Trees”

If oak trees are not your thing, you might want to look at this painting that features a different type of tree. This painting looks and feels a lot more open than California Oak. However, it also has that same almost dark feel as the other painting. The day appears to be mostly cloudy, but the trees remain the focus of the painting. They are accentuated by other natural elements, such as smaller bushes and trees and clouds that look incredibly realistic.

Poppies and Eucalyptus

While this one still has that almost eerie edge to it too, it also appears a bit brighter than the other two paintings that are discussed here. This looks like more of a fall season, since there is a lot of orange and yellow colors incorporated into it. It also has both trees and flowers that are working to best balance each other.

You can see that there are a number of Percy Gray paintings that you’ll want to learn more about. While these are some of the most popular, there are many other options for you to explore. Make sure to expand your horizons and make it a point to check out all of his work to get a more complete view of the talents that this artist brought to the world.